Bittersweet and Strange
by TransformersMangaFangirl
Summary: Based on "Beauty and the Beast". The Dark Energon shard begins to affect Megatron's mind. To escape a cruel fate, he must learn to love and gain the love of another in return before the deadline ends. But the only one available is a young girl with restless personality and a fearless attitude. But maybe a little change is enough for feelings to be born between so diferente beings.
1. Prologue

**I've been dreaming of writing this fanfic for a long time! I can not believe I'm posting the first chapter! It is based on my favorite Disney movie; Beauty and the Beast. I LOOOVEEE THIS MOVIE. And I can't wait to watch the live-action movie!**

 **I managed to post the fanfic right on Valentine's Day. :)**

 **This fanfic contains Human x Cybetronian. Don't like, don't read.**

 **Transformers doesn't belongs to me. :(**

* * *

"Blah, Blah, Blah"-Normal Speech

 **"Blah, Blah, Blah"- The Light/Primus Speech**

* * *

No one was very sure when it happened; But one day, Megatron began to be haunted by horrible nightmares. In these dreams, he made such terrible atrocities that after awakening, he felt sick and disgusted with himself.

However, it was not just that. Sometimes he heard macabre voices that only he could listen and no one else. And many times, he could distinguish the voice of Unicron the Destroyer between those voices.

Megatron had already consulted Knockout to know what it could be. The results were worse than he'd thought: The Dark Energon in his spark was slowly spreading a disturbing energy all over his body and seemed to be taking over his mind as well.

And the worst that Megatron could not remove the shard, because it was thanks to it, that he was alive. Removing from his spark would mean certain death. Therefore, he was in a deadlock.

But one night, there was no twisted nightmares. Instead, a bright light appeared right in front of him. **"Megatron of Kaon, leader of the Decepticons; you brought the death of many and was responsible for putting your own planet in the dark. Because of that, you should suffer for your crimes!"** The Light spoke angrily, the voice sounding neither male nor female. **"However, I am merciful and will give you a chance."**

"A chance?" He asked, not understanding "A chance for what?"

" **The fragment of Dark Energon. If it is purified, will lose all the evil power and you will be free from the influence of Unicron the Destroyer."** Explained. Megatron widened the optics, _"could be true?"_ asked to himself. "What must be done to purify it?" He asked, hopeful.

" **The fragment can only be purified by a feeling, stronger and more pure than hatred: Love."**

"Love? HÁ! I'm Megatron! Do you think I'm interested in such foolish felling?" He scoffed, thinking it was a joke.

The Light said nothing, instead, a crystal, almost the size of Megatron's cannon, appeared right in front of the tyrant. The crystal looked like a normal energon crystal, but it glowed, with the exception of the tip of, that it was dark. **"This crystal will shine for one earth year. If you learn to love another and earn their love in return before the crystal stops shining…. the fragment will be purified. If not... the Dark Energon will take care of your body and your mind, causing you to lose all your will. You'll be doomed to be nothing more than a Unicron puppet for all eternity."**

"WHAT?!" he screamed in anger and dread. Him, become a mere puppet of the God of Chaos?! He could not imagine anything more humiliating and terrifying than that.

That conversation was giving him a bad headache. Shaking hard his helm... he awakened from the recharge.

"It was just a dream." He sighed. Yet a gleam in the corner of his room caught his eye; The crystal the Light had shown was there, floating placidly on his desk.

Therefore, now, Megatron had a question to deal with; he should learn to love and be loved in return before the time ends. But... Him, who possessed the spark cold as ice, could learn to love someone before the deadline end?

And who? Who would ever learn to love a cruel tyrant like him?

* * *

 **Those who know me, must already have an idea of who will be Megatron's pair in this fanfic. The ones, who does not, will find out in the next chapter. But it will not be a OC.**

 **You want to hear something curious? Here in Brazil, Valentine's Day was changed, for the month of October (Wrong. Actually is June). This is because in February we have Carnival and it was decided that it was better not to have both dates in the same month.**

 **Till the next chapter!**


	2. Miko: a strange girl

**Hey there! Another chapter done! Ah, and I must say, I just LOVE the new Beauty and the Beast movie! It was perfect! I love that they put things about the original story, and the musical. And the new songs... I still fell shivers every time I hear "Evermore" and "How does a Moment Last Forever".**

 **You know what I'm going to do? At the end of each chapter, I'm going to write some curiosities about the films of Beauty and the Beast (some of you may have heard somewhere, but ...)**

 **Transformers prime doesn't belongs to me.**

* * *

The bell at Jasper's school rang, signaling the end of classes. All the students left the classrooms, just wanting to enjoy the rest of the day. The young Miko Nakadai among them. Her two friends, Jack Darby and Raf Esquivel had already gone with theirs autobot partners. Bulkhead had sent her a message a few minutes ago, that he would still take some minutes to come, so she decided to take the opportunity to stop by a store and buy new strings for her guitar.

In the corridors of the school, Miko noticed that many were looking at her and whispering. Not low enough for her not to listen; "Look at that girl! What a freak!", "I agree. She wants to please who, with those clothes and that hair?"; "It's that girl, Nakadai! I have to stay away from her, or the teachers will think I'm buying her drugs!", "Freak!"

If it were any other day, Miko would have jumped into the fray. But today she was tired and wanted to avoid detention anyway. The payback could wait, now she just rolled her eyes and leave.

This was one of the things Miko really didn't like in a small town like Jasper: just because she dressed and behaved differently, people looked at her with suspicious and fear. In her hometown, Tokyo, despite all the rules and repression, being a big city, no one really cared how she dressed (after all, there were young girls who dressed even more exaggeratedly than she did). And as long as at school she wore her uniform correctly, got good grades and did not get into (much) trouble, the teachers would leave her alone.

While in Jasper, they thought she was a drug user, a delinquent or even a slut. _"Did Jack and Raf think that about me before we met?"_ She thought sadly, " _I really hope not!"_

She finally arrived at the store. The attendant was a boy around the age of 20. Miko confess that she liked to talk to him, perhaps because he knew so much about music or because he also dressed in a different style than most people of the city: jeans with rips, T-shirts with witty phrases (today's shirt said, "Every idea I have, gets me in trouble.") and used a piercing in the nose. When Miko first met him, she felt a crush on him, which eventually came to ended (mainly because she discovered he had a boyfriend).

"Hello, Miko! What can I do for you today?" He greeted.

"I need new strings for my guitar."

"Again? Wow, you must be using her a lot." He commented.

"If I had a guitar and did not use it, I would be the worst person in the world," she pointed out.

"True," he agreed with a laugh, "By the way, where have you been during the day? I never see you in town."

"Oh, not much, I joined a science club. It's been really cool," said using the excuse Jack had invented.

"Oh really? I never thought you were the type for science."

"I am Japanese! We breathe science!" teased. They both laughed. Miko paid for the strings and left saying goodbye to the boy.

While walking, Miko noticed that even on the street, most people tried to stay as far as possible from her. Some pretended to ignore her while some rare exceptions gave a polite nod. But she could still hear the word "weird" being addressed to her. That was when a horn a distracted. Thinking it was Bulkhead, she turned happily, but her face closed when saw it was just Vince, honking and winking at her. "Do you want a ride, babe? There's plenty of space for both of us."

"Wow, Vince, I have an answer for you. It's right on the tip of the tongue. Let me see... ah yes, fuck off!" began to speak tenderly, but ended with a growl.

"Did you say 'fuck'?" He asked, smiling seductively. Miko growled, rolled the eyes and decided to go to another way that the boy could not follow with the car. But she still heard him shout at her. "There's still time for you to change your mind!"

" _Yeah, right... like that would happen,"_ growled mentally. When she heard another horn, she was about to give a nasty response, but then saw who it was this time, and a smile covered her face. Bulkhead had arrived. Happy, Miko ran to her friend.

"Hi Miko. Did you have a good day at school?"

"Awful, as always! I couldn't wait to ended! And how was it with you?"

"Fortunately not much has happened. These last fights the Decepticons have acted in a strange way. Optimus is worried."

"Hmm? What do you mean by, 'strange'?" asked.

"It's hard to say, but they seem extremely tense. And when Megatron joins the fight, there are days he fights like a wild beast and there are other days he seems to be having a Pit of a headache," the Wrecker explained. "And now I'm remembering that Optimus say to us, to not say nothing to you three, because he doesn't want you to be worried."

"Don't worry, Bulk. My lips are sealed," she replied with a wink. Then the two did not say anything important, they just listened rock on the radio until they reached the base. There, June Darby, Jack's mother was also there.

"Hello, Miko! How was school?" The nurse asked

"Same, as always." she shrugged, sitting down on the couch. "But I warn you, if anyone has been saying things about me; it was not me!" warned.

"Oh? I heard you broke a few hearts today." The older woman chuckled.

"Oh! Yeah, well, except for the exaggeration in the 'breaking hearts' part, yes that happened." Miko confirmed starting to straighten the strings of her guitar.

"What?! Why did not you tell me anything?" Bulkhead asked in surprise.

"It's just that there was nothing to say. Some guy asked me on a date and I said no. That's it," she said with a shrug.

"Who was?" Jack asked curiously.

"Vince."

"Vince? But I thought he already had a girlfriend." Raf said.

"No, he does not have a 'girlfriend'. He has 'girls he likes to show off, like trophies, for everyone to thinks he is a huge playboy'," Miko replied with disgust.

"That's repulsive!" Ratchet spoke for the first time since she arrived. Everyone had to agree

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Miko." June apologized. "I didn't know it was that bad."

"Nah, never mind. Can we talk about something else?" And to her relief, everyone did it, returning to their activities. In those hours, Miko thanked so much for the day that she decided to follow Arcee and end up meeting the Autobots. Thanks to them, she felt like home.

* * *

 **I try to show in this chapter how Miko feels among the people in the town and how others sees her. I live in a relatively small city and I confess it is not very easy.**

 **Now about the curiosity: Someone besides me, noticed that when the sorceress puts the spell on the prince, she says "If he learned to love another and earn their love in return before the last petal fall, the spell would be broken". The sorceress said "another", she did not specify gender or age. That means the prince could fall in love with a guy. Or even more interesting, if by chance a lost child somehow arrive at the castle and end up knowing the Beast/Prince, if the two create a father and daughter** **a bond** **this would also be love.**

 **Anybody also noted this? Comments!**


	3. No Matter What

**This chapter was based on a music from the "Beauty and the Beast Musical" called "No Matter What". In the live action movie, I was kind of expecting that they would use some music's from the musical. That was one of then. They didn't but that's fine. I just wanted to show the relationship between Miko and Bulkhead. And try to noted the little hint of BulkheadxWheeljack in the chapter.**

* * *

"Bulkhead ... if I ask something, will you be honest?" Miko asked after several minutes of comfortable silence between the two. "Of course, Miko, I always am. What is the matter?"

"You think I'm... weird?"

"What?! Who said something like that?" He growled angrily. Miko was like his sparkling. Knowing that someone had called her something so unpleasant filled him with anger.

"Virtually, all people in Jasper." She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, Miko... you're not weird. You know, in Cybertron, they used to talk about me too."

"Really? Why?"

"Let's just say that before the war, it was not very easy to be a bot of my size. I cannot remember how many times I've received 'advices' to change my protoform." snorted as he was remembering. "I was practically the outcast of the city, because I did not have a lean and elegant protoform."

"Wow, Bulk, I'm so sorry." Miko said sympathetically. "And what did you do?"

"Well, I admit that sometimes, I actually thought about changing my protoform..." he sighed with his memories. "Many times, actually. Then the war began. When I joined the Wreckers, my protoform was the toughest and strongest among all, which ended saving my life many times. Then I met Wheeljack who did not care what I looked like, and... Actually makes me happy. But what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't matter if three quarters of the world thinks poorly of you. We all like you just the way you are. And I'm proud of you, Miko, no matter what."

"Thank you so much, Bulk. That really helped," she said, hugging her giant friend's chin. "Don't ever change, okay?"

"I promise Miko. But only if you promise the same to." Asked.

"Cross my heart."

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"Bulkhead! It's your time to patrol!" Ratchet called after Optimus came back.

"Awaan! I was hoping we could watch a Monster Truck rally later! It would be awesome!" Miko moaned.

"Sorry Miko. I promise as soon as I get back, we'll do that." The green wrecker promised. Although it was not the same, Miko nodded. Then, he transform in to his alt-mode and left.

Ratchet sent him to a place in the interior of France. It was starting to get dark and the stars where starting to appear in the sky. It was cold, but it would have to be much colder than that to bother the big Autobot. Firstly, there was nothing, until he detected a signal "Bulkhead to base, I got a signal. I'll take a look," he said through the Comn.

He drove, following the signal that grew louder and louder. Until reaching the entrance to a cave. " _Maybe I should call for backup... but it does not cost to come in and check if it's worth it."_

He went into the cave. It did not seem to have anything suspicious, but as he went deeper, began to hear digging sounds. Following the sound, the wrecker arrived at the place where Velhicons were mining a small vein of energon.

"Bulkhead to the base! I found a mine of energon, I need back up!" Called to the Comn. But it only receive static. _"Scrap! I forgot that the rocks interfere with the signal, I have to leave first!"_

However, the mine was a maze. Now that Bulkhead did not have a sound to follow, he could not remember where he had gone before. "I really should have called for backup!" He moaned tiredly, as he passed a dead end again. Unfortunately, at that moment two Velhicons were passing by. When they saw the green autobot, they stopped for a few seconds... until they started firing.

"SCRAP!" Bulkhead growled, activating his weapons and knocking them both down. Unfortunately, the noise caught the attention of the other Decepticons.

It was true that Velhicons were not very resilient and had relatively low firepower, but nonetheless, they were dangerous opponents... especially when in far greater numbers that the foe was. And Bulkhead was having this exact problem. No matter how much he would shoot, use his wrecking ball or turned into his alt-mode to run over his enemies, more kept coming. He was exhausted, desperately wanting to find the way out. He could not remember ever having so much trouble involving Velhicons.

Finally, he saw the exit of the cave! He never thought he would be so relieved to flee of a fight. He hoped Miko or Wheeljack wouldn't be disappointed that he did that. Miko would probably be pouty for a while but she would understand.

Running to the exit, he was prepared to call the base when the Comn had no longer static. Optimus and Ratchet would probably berate him for not having called earlier, but that was fine.

But suddenly, a huge shadow appeared right in front of the wrecker, and before he had time to see who it was, the Con struck so hard that he was thrown violently back into the rocks of the cave. "Where do you think you are going, Autobot?" The shadow snarled.

Megatron!

Seeing the evil warlord approaching slowly with the purple optics shining in a dangerous way, as if he were a prey to a predator, Bulkhead could only think with regret that he would not be able to keep the promise he made to Miko.

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Many hours later (the children had already been taken home); the Autobots were worried about Bulkhead's lack of news and decided to go check it out. It was not long before they found the mine, which, except for a few energon crystals that looked like they'd been forgotten there, was totally empty. But they saw marks and footprints that indicated that a fight had happened. And it was not difficult for them to conclude that Bulkhead had been taken by the Decepticons.

They had to save their friend. But it would not be easy. And especially... what should they tell to Miko?

* * *

 **You don't have to go Broadway to watch the "Beauty and the Beast" musical. On YouTube, there are many videos of schools that play the musical. And I must say, some of then have the qualities of a real Broadway play. I advice everyone to go look. There are 8 more music's than the original film.**

 **Now about the curiosity: Did you know Disney was planning to make a Non-musical version of Beauty and the Beast in 1980? In this story, pretty much based on the original fairy tail, Belle had a little sister named Clarisse and a cat named Charley. Also, they have a annoying aunt and Gaston was not a hunter, but a noble (but he was still very narcissist). The story was to dark and kinda depressing (and believe me, there was even a hint of prostitution in one scene!) so the project was closed.**

 **You can watch this version on YouTube (there is only a few minutes, to the beginning to the time Maurice comes to the Beast's castle).**


	4. Vince

**I cannot believe it's been a year since the story was published! And I just post three chapters! although I have good reasons for that. My Grandmother end a Grand-Aunt passed away, and... I guess you understand.**

 **In this chapter, I was based in another song from the Musical, called "Me", that's when Gaston goes to propose to Belle. It's so funny! In fact, the only part in the live-action movie I really don't like, is that one. Belle was so polite when s** **he refused Gaston's request. In the cartoon, we could notice the hidden sarcasm, the eyes rolling, the forced smile... It was so obvious she was felling unpleasant!**

 **By the way, although Vince is being portrait as Gaston, he is not the main villain. In fact, in my fanfic, it will have two Gaston's. Vince is the annoying and sexist Gaston. But the character that will portrait the Evil-Gaston... I will give some clues with the passing of chapters.**

* * *

"Blah, Blah, Blah"- Normal Speech

 _"Blah, Blah, Blah"- Thoughts_

[Blah, Blah, Blah]- Bumblebee's speech

* * *

Miko woke at the sound of her cell phone's alarm clock. She barely had woken up and already felt very tired. She had restless dreams all night. She could not remember what they were about; just remembered they were not pleasant.

She went to the bathroom to wash and dress, putting on her usual clothes. Ate their breakfast (ignoring her host parents, who looked at her as if she was going to bite them) and start to run to school. Usually in the morning the Autobots did not take their partners to school, since Miko and Jack lived nearby and could make the journey on foot (the exception was Raf, who live a little further from the building, so often, Bumblebee would give a ride to his friend).

Most of the teenagers were busy in their own activities, but still, several began to whisper when they saw the Japanese girl. " _Yeah, yeah, I dress like a delinquent! Yeah, I love heavy metal. So what? Anyone who listens to classical music will never do anything wrong? A person who wears piercings will always be a junkie?"_ Miko snarled inwardly. " _Why is everyone in this town such idiots?!"_

"Hey Miko! Good thing I found you." Jack called while they were in the hallway, picking up the books for the next period. "I have to tell you, that while I was in the bathroom, I heard Vince talking with his friends, saying that he plan to ask you on a date again."

"WHAT?!" shouted.

"He thinks you're just playing hard." he said rolling his eyes.

"ARGH! Me?! Playing hard?! He was never dumped before?!" she growled, running her hands through your hair.

"I have no idea. But I have to give you a warning: Even if Vince is very unpleasant to you, try to control yourself a bit."

"Why should I do that?" she asked grumpy.

"Because, his father is one of the most important and wealthy men in town. You can have problems if you get into a fight with him."

"Says the guy who covered his whole car with hamburger," pointed out with a laugh.

"Smokescreen convinced me it was a good idea! And besides, he never finds out that it was me who did that!" He said in embarrassment. "Anyway, try to do nothing."

"Again, why should I do that? What can his father do?" she shrugged nonchalantly.

"How about, have a chat with your host parents and as a punishment, they forbid you from playing your guitar or even going out, so you cannot go to Autobot Base anymore?" The boy suggested, knowing that all the things that would annoy her friend, those were the main ones.

"... Okay, you convinced me. I promise I will behave and even if Vince act like the idiot he is, I will not kick his 'special place'... even though I would be doing a good to mankind if I did that." she mumbled the last part.

"Great. See you later."

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Thanks to Jack's warning, Miko spent all day running away from Vince. Every time she saw him, tried to hide or flee in the opposite direction. All this time, the theme song of "Mission Impossible" has been playing in her head.

"End of class! Finally!" sighed contentedly, already heading for the exit. But unfortunately, Lady Luck got tired of staying with Miko and decided to take a little break.

"Hello, Miko," Vince said, appearing right in front of her.

" _Slag! I just get distract for a second!"_ growled in her head "Er... hi Vince," replied, trying not to sound so disgusted.

"It's good that I finally found you. I've been looking for you all day."

" _Oh really? What a coincidence, I've been running away from you all day!"_ Her inner voice growled "Really? Why?"

"Well Miko, I got your move. So I decided to make things easier for you." The redhead said smugly, putting his arm around Miko's shoulders.

" _Get this arm off or I'll tear it off with my teeth!"_ she wanted to scream in his face. She could feel her teeth grinding against each other, but disguised herself by pretending to be smiling. "Move?"

"Yes, your move. Your act of being the bad girl who does not care for boys. I understood. But that's enough now. No need to do this anymore. I think I know how you feel about me," he said with a convinced smile.

"'Oh, you have no idea." She said, saying the same thing as her inner voice, just tried to disguise the sarcastic tone. " _ARGH! Jack, I'll kill you for making me make that promise!"_

"So... how about we go to my car? I know a great place to... talk," he said, not even waiting for Miko to give the answer and leading her out of the building.

" _Translation: A place where there will be a lot of people there, probably your friends, so you can show off with me and say that I'm your new girlfriend... HELL NO!"_ her inner voice screamed and flounce, feeling that that was the last straw. "Wow, Vince, I do not even know what to say!" said, still controlling her voice.

"Say 'oh, yes'," he said convinced, leaning in to kiss the girl.

"Um ... I don't think so. But thanks' for asking!" And ran off while the redhead continue to move, not noticing he was going to kiss the wall.

The young woman ran to the parking lot, searching for her alien partner. "Bulkhead! Where are you?" cried in dramatic despair as she realized he had not yet arrived. Where he was?

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A few minutes before...

Raf had left the building and was already going to Bumblebee. "Hi Bee. Are you all right?"

[Not too much, Raf.] The scout answer with his characteristic beeps, in a weary sigh.

"Why? What happened?" He asked worriedly.

[Optimus asked not to tell, but we had a serious problem involving the Decepticons. We're trying to figure it out... but we have not had results yet.]

"Has something happened to Bulkhead? Is that why he has not come yet?" He asked, remembering that Bulkhead had been off patrol just before they went home.

[I cannot fool you, right little buddy? But yes. The Decepticons have Bulkhead. Ratchet is looking for Nemesis right now, but in the meantime, we thought it would be better not say anything to Miko.]

"I hope you find him fast. Miko cam be more observant than I am, and if she finds out that we lie to her... 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'." he said, using William Congreve's famous phrase.

[Speaking of, did she have detention? She's taking so long.]

"I don't know, she didn't say anything. I'll call and ask her… Ah, never mind, there she comes," he said, going to pick his cell phone, but did not need it when he saw Miko leave the building and began to wave through the window to indicate that it was for her to come.

But both thought it was very strange when they saw Vince next to her. And Miko's expression seemed to mean "Oh, God! What did I do to deserve this?!" until in a moment, it seemed that the bully was going to kiss her. Miko swerved quickly, making Vince kiss the wall. She stared at the parking lot, looking for Bulkhead until she saw Raf and Bee. Then ran off, as if devil himself was after her.

"Run for it, Bee!" She shouted in one breath as she entered. Despite knowing that there was no real danger, the yellow Autobot automatically reacted to the girl's voice and accelerated, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

"Miko! What happened?" The boy asked in surprise.

"Sorry about that! It's just that I swear that, if I stayed a second more close to Vince, my brain would melt!"

[What did he do?] Bumblebee asked, being translated by Raf.

"Nothing much except be a sexist, annoying and bigheaded!" She growled, clenching the fists. "Can you believe he asked me out, again? Because he didn't believe I was being serious when I said I didn't want to be his girlfriend!"

[I bet it was a very nice conversation.] The autobot commented sarcastically. Although Miko did not understand, she managed to guess what he said. "You have no idea." Sighed in response. "Hey, Bee, why Bulk didn't come?" asked.

[Er... he... he... he decided to do an extra hour on the patrol!] He said, saying the first thing that came into his head. For the first time, he thanked the fact that his vocal processors did not work, because he was sure that if Miko could understand him, she would find out that he was lying.

"Really? Okay, but I wish he'd let me know sooner. I don't like it when I'm the last to know," commented, putting the feet on the dashboard. She could not see, but Raf was looking at the panel (where Bumblebee could probably see both of them) with a look that said "I told you so."

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"Hey, Doc-bot!" Miko greeted as they arrived at the base.

"Hm." The medic simply replied. He looked exhausted.

"What do you have, Doc? It looks like you've done overnight overtime double." Asked.

"I'm fine, Miko. Just tired," he replied, not taking his eyes off the computer. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to work."

" _He didn't even say for me not call him 'Doc'. Something's wrong,"_ she thought worried. "I'm going to call Bulkhead. Maybe he knows what's going on." Decided, picking up her cell phone. It's not as if she was going to disturb the Wrecker's patrol with a quick phone call. However, she did not hear a signal and had to give up. Without having anything to do, decided to play games. However, the mood at the base was so heavy that she began to feel uncomfortable. All the bots were silent, their faces very serious and worried. What was wrong?

" _I wish Bulkhead would come back soon...,"_ she could only think.

* * *

 **Curiosity: The Fairy Tale of "Beauty and the Beast" is actually based in a true story. The real "Beast" was a man named Petrus Gonsalvus, (born in 1537) who suffered from a genetic condition known as hypertrichosis (also known as Ambras syndrome), which is defined by an abnormal amount of hair growth on any part of the body in excess of the regular amount present in people of the same race, age and gender. In Gonsalvus' case, it affected his entire body. It has also been referred to informally as werewolf syndrome because the appearance is akin to the mythical werewolf. He was shipped to King Henry II of France as a gift for the king's coronation in 1547.**  
 **Fortunately, King Henry II did not see Gonsalvus as a freak that should be kept in a cage. The king recognized Gonsalvus' calm demeanor and decided to try an experiment. He would attempt to educate and transform him into a gentleman. The boy was given clothes and cooked meals. He was taught to speak, read, and write in not just one, but three languages, receiving the education of a nobleman.**

 **The real Beauty and the Beast met after Gonsalvus' mentor and protector, King Henry II, was killed in a jousting match on July 10, 1559. Gonsalvus became the property of the king's widow, Catherine de Medici, who became ruler and decided to conduct her own experiment with Gonsalvus. She wondered what would happen if her "beast" married a beautiful woman. Would they conceive little beasts? She found a wife for Gonsalvus, a young maiden also named Catherine, who was the daughter of a royal court servant.**

 **Petrus Gonsalvus met his wife Catherine for the first time on their wedding day. The pair had seven children, with four of the seven suffering from their father's condition, hypertrichosis. Petrus and Catherine were married for more than 40 years, with Catherine passing in 1623 and Petrus several years prior.**


	5. More Than They've got Planned

"Blah, blah, blah"-Normal Speech

 _"Blah, blah, blah"- Thoughts_

["Blah, blah, blah"]-Bumblebee Speech

* * *

In the Nemesis:

The corridors of the great Decepticon warship were silent. Whoever didn't know would think that silence was normal. But it was not. Not that way.

There were few who knew about Megatron's grim situation. But even without knowing the details, the troops knew there was something wrong with their leader.

Since the Dark Energon had begun to affect him, Megatron was more unstable and aggressive than normal. Often he had violent fits of rage, leaving anything or anyone in his way, to pieces. When this happened, it wasn't just his optics that turned purple; all the veins in his body glowed in an abnormal way. Generally, these bouts happened when Megatron was agitated or stressed.

Unfortunately, for Bulkhead that was being interrogated in that moment, he was both now.

"Say it at once, Autobot! Where's the Autobot Base!" Megatron snarled.

"Go to the Pit and stay there, old scrap!" The Wrecker replied bravely. In response, the leader Decepticon used his claws to cut Bulkhead's face, forming four thick lines that began to drip energon.

Bulkhead had been interrogated many times. He had several scars to prove that. But he couldn't remember dreading being interrogated so much. Something was very wrong with Megatron.

It was almost like the Decepticon leader was not so interested in finding out the secrets of the Autobots, but turning him into a pile of scrap metal. But at the same time, Megatron was controlling himself not to do that.

By then he had so many scratches on his armor that his painting was turning blue with the energon. He could not open his left optic, because of a punch given on the spot. The main lines of his legs had been cut off, making the task of moving them, something so painful that it was impossible. There was no chance of Bulkhead escaping on his own now. He tried not to show his fear and pain but it was becoming harder and harder, the loss of energon was making him too weak.

"I... I'm tired of this Autobot! Take him back to prison! I'll take care of him later!" Megatron ordered to the Velhicons, who were in the corner of the room, terrified.

Knockout and Starscream (that had return to the Decepticons), who were also in the room, were silent without the courage to make any comment. They notice that their leader left, looking exhausted. When the Velhicons dragged the wrecker, they also left.

"Slag! I actually feel sorry for the Autobot!" Starscream commented with a shudder. "I am grateful that I came back before Dark Energon began to affect our Lord; otherwise, I feel that not by a miracle I would survive."

"Still, you could tell that Megatron was controlling himself in order not to lose control. Otherwise we would have a dead body now, not a prisoner." Knockout noted.

"Speaking of it... I once put a piece of Dark Energon in my spark chamber. Is there any chance he might affect me as well?" He asked worriedly.

"Oh! So the rumors were true! The shard is still there?"

"No. I didn't want Megatron to suspect anything, so I took him out to avoid trouble."

"So I don't think you need to worry. Since the fragment is no more in contact with your spark, you are fine." He soothed him. Starscream sighed in relief. But another doubt arose in the seeker's head;

"Knockout, I was thinking; if our Lord needs to love someone, why he didn't try to love one of us? I'm sure Soundwave wouldn't mind being courted by Megatron." He asked the doctor with honest curiosity.

"Actually, Scream... he tried."

"Huh? When that happened? I would have remembered!" He asked, so surprised that ignored the fact that the doctor had called him "Scream".

"It's because just a few actually knew. But Megatron tried to woo Soundwave. But for some reason he could not. As he told me, whenever he tried to do that, the voices in his head became stronger and felt he was losing control of his body. That's why he had to give up."

"Any theory about why this happened?"

"It's not obvious? Megatron needs to learn to love and be loved back. What he wanted with Soundwave wasn't love, it was interest. It would not work, even with him and Soundwave being so close." He explained. "Apparently, Lord Megatron's only way to be back to normal will be falling in love with someone he would never, ever think of loving."

"Ugh! That certainly will not be easy." He sighed and Knockout had to agree with him.

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 **Miko's POV**

"ARGH! I just wanted some air! Is that too much to ask?!" I yelled at nothing. I had decided to get out to the top of the base, wanting to stay a bit away from the uncomfortable atmosphere that was the place. Unfortunately, this way my phone got signal to receive other calls. And those calls were all from Vince, who probably wanted to keep flirting with me.

"This guy doesn't learn?! Me?! Girlfriend of that idiot, bigheaded?!" I started to say to myself. "Miko Nakadai, Vince Raider's* sweetheart. ARGH!" Just thinking, make me want to vomit. "No sir! Not me! I guarantee that! I want to live adventures, explore the world, meet more people... I want more than I can tell..." said the phrase, slowly becoming a whisper. "And I would also like... to have someone to understand me... there are so many things I want to do..." I finished with a sigh, sitting on the edge of the silo. I know I usually acted like I didn't have the slightest interest in love and romance, but that wasn't true. I would like to have someone who was always by my side, supporting me (or reprimanding me when necessary), understanding me, being with me all the time. Of course, I have Bulkhead, but Bulk is like a second father to me. And he has Wheeljack.

So who do I have? Jack? Nah ... very mind-closed, and spoils pleasures. Raf? Hell no! He's like my little brother! Ratchet? Yeah, right. Optimus? No, he can be worse than Jack (these two need to loosen up a bit). Arcee? I'm not interested in girls. Smokescreen? Hum no. The way he acts like Optimus' fanboy is kind of annoying. Sighing in defeat, I decided to enter the base again. " _Cheer up Miko. It's not like you're always going to be alone. Maybe one day you'll meet someone."_ I thought, trying to cheer myself up. _"I hope."_

At that moment, I noticed that the battery of my cell phone was almost over. "Damn, thank you very much, Vince!" I growled. "Hey, Raf! Can I borrow your charger?" I asked when I saw him.

"Sure, Miko. Here", he said, handing me the cell phone charger. I plugged in and... and what? Jack had not yet come from work, Bulkhead was still on patrol, and the mood at the base remained strange. What could I do?

"We... find Bulk..." I heard bits of Arcee's voice coming from the bottom of the base. Were they talking about Bulkhead? What did she mean by "finding"? Was Bulkhead lost? I cannot see this happening. "It could be..." I thought of a terrible possibility. I had to check!

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 **Normal POV:**

"Any sign, Ratchet?"

"I already said, Optimus! No, I did not find anything! The other times, I was just lucky to find the warship! You cannot expect me to be lucky again!"

"Well, we'll have to make it happen! We cannot leave Bulkhead there!" Arcee shouted.

"Bulkhead is with the Decepticons?!"

The bots looked down and saw Miko, looking at them shocked.

"So the story you told, that he was on patrol... was a lie?" That explained the unpleasant mood at the base. "Why did you lie?"

"We did not want to make you worried, Miko." Optimus explained, but even he knew it was a weak excuse.

"And then you decided to lie to me! How long did they think the lie would last?!" she asked, her voice showing all her anger.

"We had a little hope that, until we saved Bulkhead," Arcee admitted.

Miko felt very angry. She wanted to yell at them, call them whatever it was to curse, hit someone... but her brain was so messed up she could not think. He tried to say something, but it end up choking the words.

"Miko, stay with Rafael while we look for Bulkhead." Optimus spoke, trying to calm the girl.

"No! I want to stay! I-!"

"When we find him, we will let you know, I promise."

"How do I know you're not lying again?" The girl asked snarling. Optimus felt miserable with Miko's mistrust, but that would be expected. "Please stay with Raf," he said, almost begging. Miko did as he said, but only because she didn't want to look at them anymore. _"If they don't find Bulkhead fast, I'll make them curse the day they met me!"_ She promised herself.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

When Jack came from the work, he found Miko sitting on the couch, arms and legs crossed, an angry expression on her face, staring at Ratchet, who was on the computers, so intensely it looked like she was trying to pierce him with her eyes.

"Uh... what's going on?" He asked to Raf.

"Bulkhead was captured by the Decepticons. It was decided we were not going to tell Miko, but she ended up finding out anyway." Miko was also giving him a cold shoulder because she had discovered that the boy knew about what had happened to Bulkhead and had not told her.

"Oh! Big mistake."

Miko did not even hear Jack speak. She was very focused on thinking of ways to get revenge on the Bots for lying to her. _"When Bulkhead comes back, I will not come to base anymore and I will not talk to them for a long time. No! This way I will not be able to see Bulk either! But I liked the idea of not talking to them. When they ask me something, I'll ask the Bulk to speak through me. It's good to begin with. Maybe after that, I'll wait for them to sleep to paint them all in bright-pink!"_

Hours passed, all the Autobots were astonished to note that Miko had not once moved from where she was. Several times, she would clench her fists or swing her legs tightly. Ratchet noticed that at various times, the girl's heart was racing, to calm down slowly. He didn't want to know what was going on in her mind.

Suddenly…

"OPTIMUS! I FOUND! I FOUND THE DECEPTICON SHIP!" Ratchet began to scream with satisfaction at his success. All the Autobots raced to the main hangar, while Miko smiled at the news, her heart feeling much lighter.

["How did you do that?"] Bumblebee asked.

"Lucky shot, I guess."

"Stop talking and go! Bulkhead has spent too much time in that piece of hell!" Miko shouted.

"I have to agree with her. We'd better move." Arcee commented.

"Ratchet, you are coming with us. Bumblebee, take care of the Bridge," Optimus ordered. The Ground Bridge was activate, to the coordinates "Autobots, roll out!"

The three of them passed the green portal, only the scout and the three humans remained in the base. "Umm... Miko, how about some games?" Jack asked, wanting to distract her.

"Don't want to," moaned. She had no head for games. She just wanted to know if Bulkhead would return well.

Suddenly, the Asian girl came with a decision; she could not just stand waiting the Bots return! And ignoring any good sense she had... jumped from the platform and ran right to the ground bridge!

* * *

 **(*)Since they never gave Vince's last name, I use Vince's voice actor last name, Brad Raider.**

 **The most difficult part of this chapter, was the interrogation between Megatron and Bulkhead. I wanted to try to show how much the Dark Energon was affecting Megatron. But I didn't want to make something gory. I hope it looks convincing enough. And Miko's monologue was hard too. I couldn't stop thinking that sounded to forced.**

 **Curiosity: In the beginning, the song "Be our Guest" was mean to be singed to Belle's father. but the producers thought it was a to good song for a secondary character. Plus, Chip would have only one phrase and Belle's friend would be a little music box, that speak with little expressive sounds. The music box have a little appearance in the movie, right next to Lumiere when the castle is attacked.**


End file.
